Archives for November 2006

Guy Didn’t Mean Don’t Have a Vision or a Plan

With the start of the Perfect Virtual Manager, I’ve been talking a lot to bloggers. Even more interesting is that I’ve been not talking to a lot of them. I’ve noticed something about people who work outside of a traditional setting. We fall into two categories: freelancers and entrepreneurs. Some think they are one, and they’re really the other. Which one are you? Do you know that for sure?

Guy Kawasaki wrote a wonderful post in January called, Mantras Versus Missions. Thank you, Roger von Oech, for reminding me of it. You see, I think some folks do as Guy suggests — make a mantra — and unfortunately, they stop there. That’s not what Guy said to do. He was talking about replacing a mission statement with something more focused. His mantra was meant as a guiding force, not as a replacement for a business plan.

A person with fabulous skills and only a mantra is a freelancer not a solo entrepreneur.

Blogger A Day Call: Hello is Wayne there?

A Chicago podcasting guru! It started with a voicemail from Phil Gebyshak saying he knew someone from Chicago — someone I didn’t know. Phil likes to leave messages like that. He knows they’ll get me to call him back. That’s how I came to meet the Cranky Middle Manager, Mr. Wayne Turmel. That’s how I came to be talking to him yesterday.

My conversation with the Cranky Middle Manager actually started via email when Phil introduced us. I sent an email to Wayne Turmel with a few snappy words and a hello. I saw I was in for something when Mr. Turmel read my signature that says a 65th crayon if there ever was one and replied with a promotion to 63rd crayon. We set a date in that email banter to continue the conversation as a B.A.D Blogger call.

Wayne and I talked about his podcast and how it’s grown over the 15 months since he started it 71 shows ago. He and I agreed that everything is supposed be fun, including the things that people call work. He says he enjoys the experience of talking to people all over the globe amd hearing how they deal with issues, then passing those conversations on.

We analyzed the world of blogging and podcasting and the people who are part of it. He mentioned that his strength is in audio and spoke highly of the podcasting team that supports him. I spoke highly of the community of folks who hang out at Successful-Blog.

We traded stories of writing and talked about how visuals draw people in. We shared our amazement at how easy it is to say something for an audience via the Internet and how much harder it is to get paid for it. We also spoke about how important it is that folks feel that a real person is on the other side of the screen.

Most of all, we just had fun.

B.A.D. Blogger Quote

There’s something cool about a Canadian living in Chicago interviewing someone in the UK for a podcast hosted in Australia to be listened to by someone in Brazil- all with $15 in software. . . . —Wayne Turmel

Net Neutrality Links

Internet neutrality proponents believe that the recent change in Congress is likely to boost their efforts to push legislation that would prohibit tiered access to the Internet.

[ . . .]

“The outlook for better, more public-spirited Internet legislation is now quite good,” the group said through a prepared statement.

In fact, U.S. Rep. Ed Markey, a Massachusetts Democrat who proposed legislation supporting their cause, is set to lead telecommunications policy for the House majority in 2007. So is U.S. Rep. John Dingell, a Michigan Democrat, who said he would propose a telecommunications reform bill with public interest and net neutrality in mind.

Dingell is positioned to take over as the chair of the U.S. House Energy and Commerce Committee, which held hearings on the issue during the last congressional session. The committee presides over telecommunications and Internet policies. Markey will chair a subcommittee devoted exclusively to those issues.

SaveTheInternet also sees hope in the U.S. Senate, where all representatives who supported net neutrality were re-elected and several challengers who came out in favor of the issue were also elected.

The Return of Door to Door Sales?

For those who come looking for a short, thoughtful read, a blogging life discussion, or a way to gradually ease back into the week. I offer this bloggy life hypothetical question. . . .

A friend has written and self-published a targeted, much needed book, Turning a HIgh School Teaching Career into a Profitable Business Training Practice. It’s solid and well written. Every teacher who’s read it wants a copy.

The audience for the book can’t be reached by direct mail. Direct mail no longer works. It goes straight into the circular file. The no call law means telemarketing is out. Your friend has only 800 emails for prospective customers. He can’t afford to take a book tour. Besides, how would the customers know he’s coming to town?

He asks your advice on how to let people know that he’s got this great information to help them start a new career.

I Agree, But I’m Not Surprised

On November 13, Booz Allen Hamilton released the 2nd Annual Global Innovation 1,000 Survey. Business week’s Jesse Stanton summarized the study in an article “How to Turn Money Into Innovation,” on November 14.

The study, which analyzes the relationship between R&D spending and performance, focused on the 1,000 public companies located anywhere in the world that spent the most on Research and Development in 2005. The study by Booz Allen Hamilton found that

R&D spending is on the rise, but as a percentage of overall sales it is falling. Companies are finding ways to optimize their investment in R&D.

Gross profits as a percentage of sales is the ONLY PERFORMANCE VARIABLE THAT SHOW A RELATIONSHIP.

No correlation exists between R&D spending and the number of patents that result.

An increase in outsourcing to and funding in Research and Development in China and India is being fueld by a need to be closer to fast-growing markets

The Booz Allen Harrison study showed that some companies have learned how to successfully underspend in R&D and overperform in providing innovation — their spending on average half as much on R&D as their peers in industry, but their performance is as much as three times higher. The companies that stand out in the study include Kellogg, Apple, Boston Scientific, Tata Motos, Christian Dior, and Kobe Street.

High innovating companies each follow their own unique model.

Black and Decker coordinates design from its worldwide headquarters, but aligns R&D closely with individual business units.

SanDisk strategic decisions are made by a small group of executives who meet biweekly.

Google generates ideas as part of its distinct skills set.

Toyota develops products and processes effectively and efficiently.

Apple understands customers and product selection.

The similaries found in the Booz Allen Hamilton Survey weren’t surprising.These common factors included what Booz Allend called a “value chain.” The value chain speaks to four key areas in which highly innovative companies exhibited strong competency: ideation, project selection, product development, and commecialization. Innovation is a company-wide investment.

Sustainable innovation depends on having the tools and processes to move from ideation through commercialization. Second, successful companies link R&D with CÃ¢â¬âcustomers. At Illinois Tool Works (ITW), for example, R&D engineers are required to spend time working in customers’ plants — Business Week Online on the Booz Allen Hamilton Blogal Innovation 1,000.

Mr. Stanton asks for more concrete answers. I find the value chain confirmation here is powerful enough model. Innovation thrives in a culture that values innovation beyond the simple action of throwing money in the direction of generating new ideas. The investment of currency in innovation has to be considered, thought through as any sound business venture does. Such an invetment recquires thoughtful process from ideation through the decision to move forward on a project, through every customer centered decision that drives the development, to each piece and parcle that introduces and informs the public about the new product during the commercialization phase.

In other words, innovation must be based in quality thinking that that stands on a firm and deep intimacy with the customers’ experience and understanding of the customers’ needs. That is the key driver to productive and useful innovative change that fuels growth.

Blogger A Day Call: Hello is John there?

Much like the innovative mosaic art John T Unger has received acclaim for, so went our bubbling conversation yesterday. It was piece after beautiful piece fitting perfectly into one another. We were a pair of champagne flutes constantly filled with effervescent Veuve Champagne. Those tiny bubbles started us laughing immediately.

John and I jumped right into talking about his marriage next summer. The wedding rings the couple chose, specially-made will have bubbles where the stone would be. That says a lot about the artistic couple — John who writes, does mosaic, scuplts, and makes other beautiful things, and his wife-to-be, lawyer, who does mosaic.

John and I let our curiosity run wild as we talked about blogging, techies, poetry, and how-to writing. In the middle of our talk, we discovered that we were both kissed by famous people — no I’m not saying who. You’ve heard of both of them. You’ll do fine not knowing. I have faith in you.

We agreee that blogging allowed us to leave the world where it’s hard to find people to talk to and enter a world where there are many who understand what we’re saying. It’s as if we’ve found a way finally to be in the majority. The irony is that we “find our feet” in a virtual world where our fingers are in charge of getting us where we need to go.

The conversation was rollercoaster — made from that original mosaic inside the Veuve bubbles — with a best friend on a Satuday afternoon. We could both let go of the rail with two hands knowing that we’d still be together no matter what route we to the end.

New from Liz Strauss & GeniusShared Press

It can be hard to find focus sometimes. A few months ago, I was talking with a colleague who was having a hard time finding focus in their work. They spoke of feeling pulled in multiple directions and of many obligations — both at work and with their family. As I listened, I could hear […]

The other day I was having a conversation with a friend. We were sharing stories from days gone by about each of our lives. We hopped from one story to the next — based on what each of us were sharing. It was really an incredible discussion as we were each learning from the other […]

Everyone feels lost sometimes. I don’t think I know anyone who hasn’t been lost in their head at one time or another — even those folks overachieving all over the Internet. We all find those moments that we wonder about who we are and what we want. But the question is not whether everyone gets […]

I felt the more embarrassing fear of people’s judgment. When I decided it was time to write again, I avoided the computer for the longest time. On the rare occasion that I managed to sit myself down to write, I’d get caught up answering email or reading articles around the web, not doing writing I […]